Chapter 10. Sparking a Questionable Interest.

The week that proceeded the streaking incident was pretty dull, besides a few good school pranks orchestrated by Hyde that I got to witness. I was becoming closer friends with Donna – she was the most relatable of all of them and the least dramatic; she also had a decent taste in music after I got the chance to analyze her bedroom walls. We planned a sleepover for Friday afterschool, which, I know, sounds girly, but it was a good plan to get my father to trust me again – and I figured we'd have a good time listening to music.

After the school day ended on Friday, I went home to go pack a stay-over bag. I only brought the essentials. Donna told me that once Jackie slept over and brought two suitcases worth of clothes and makeup – and she was only staying over for the weekend. I was glad that Jackie didn't seem interested in befriending me – I don't know if I could deal with her drama, honestly; I mean, she didn't seem horrible, but she was definitely annoying. I had always had a low tolerance for things that aggravated me, unfortunately.

Before leaving, I said goodbye to my father, gave him the Pinciotti's phone number in case of emergencies, and walked to Donna's house across the street. I knocked on the door to be greeted by her father, Bob Pinciotti. I had yet to formally meet him but heard he was a bit odd.

"Why, hello there, neighbor. I'm Donna's dad; Donna's upstairs getting herself all ready for your girly sleepover," He greeted me and I walked in.

I didn't really know what to reply with, so I nodded and scurried upstairs. He was a bit too happy for my taste. When I walked into Donna's room, I could hear Zeppelin humming from her record player.

"Hey," I smiled and put my small bag of stuff in the corner of the room.

"Hey, what's up?" She greeted back.

"Oh, y'know. I almost was forced into a nice conversation with your dad about 'girly stuff'," I smirked.

She frowned, "Oh, I'm sorry. He's just like that."

I shook my head to reassure her, "No worries. It's not a big deal, man. Well, as long as you're not actually interested in doing girly stuff; you have Jackie for that."

She chuckled and stood up off of her bed. "Actually," she began. "I was thinking of going to play basketball with Eric and Fez, if you're interested."

The way she said Fez's name was a bit weird, almost like she was trying to insinuate something, but I shrugged it off.

"Sure! Though, I haven't played in a while…" I told her as we walked down the stairs.

"Oh, no worries," She held the back door open for me. "We just kind of shoot hoops and count points."

We walked over to Eric's driveway where the guys stood waiting.

"Why aren't Kelso and Hyde playing with us?" I questioned.

"Oh, well, um, Kelso has been having problems with Jackie… Hyde thought it was in his best interest if he helped him," Eric said.

"Hello, Saige," Fez came over to me and greeted.

I smiled, "Hey, what's up man?"

"Oh, you know, the beautiful sky."

"Yeah…" I trailed off. Fez was pretty cool but sometimes he could say the oddest things.

"So, anyways, let's just play some ball," Donna said and threw the ball at Eric.

Eric kind of caught the ball, but it almost stumbled out of his hands. However, he recovered from his fall quickly and efficiently and passed by Fez – who was distracted – to shoot the basketball into the hoop.

He threw the ball at Donna who was on my team and she was quick to dodge Eric and shoot the basket. Eric was next, however he couldn't get past Donna who swiped it. I ended up swiping it from Fez and Eric a few times and in the end, we won.

The sun eventually set and we all sat outside Eric's house with lemonade that Kitty insisted we try – it was actually pretty refreshing after a victorious win.

"So, Saige, what kind of music do you like?" Fez inquired. "Do you like the disco?"

He proceeded to stand up and fling his body into what appeared to be an awkward dance move.

"Um…."

Eric intervened, "What Fez meant is that he enjoys disco music and there is a disco dance in Kenosha that is scheduled for a few months from now that he would like to take you to."

"Um, I mean, a few months from now… I don't really dance, Fez." I sighed. I felt bad for him being so incredibly awkward. I mean he was attractive enough, but still…

"What Saige means is that she'll consider it and get back to you, Fez," Donna said.

Well, I mean, it was a few months away. What could really happen in that time? I thought and nodded to Fez.

"Is that a yes?" Fez seemed excited.

I smiled, "Sure, man."

Later that night after Donna and I went back to her house, we were talking about the guys and the group in general.

"I feel bad for Fez," I sighed.

Donna was changing out the record to a Grateful Dead vinyl that I brought with me.

"I know. It's nice that you said yes, though. He really likes you," She came back to sit next to me on her bed. "Speaking of which, is there anyone you like yet? I mean you've been here for a little while now. There's got to be someone sparking your interest."

I blushed, "I don't know. I've never really had a girl to talk to so talking about this kind of stuff is kind of weird, I guess."

"Well, if there was one person you'd be okay dating," She persisted. "Even if it isn't in our group."

I thought for a minute but my mind kept going back to the same person. It was unrealistic though, because of how much of an insensitive jerk he could be but…. "I mean, I guess Hyde."